Culture Malta

By Amy Adejokun
Section editor

Malta : Discover the country's culture

Read

'The Splendor of Malta' by Johnston'Malta: War and Peace, an Architectural Chronicle, 1800-2000' by Quentin Hughes and Conrad Thake.'The Knights of Malta' by HJA Sire'The Last of the Crusaders: The Knights of St John and Malta in the Eighteenth Century' by Roderick Cavaliero

Music

Malta : Discover the country's history

Historical dates

From the 4th century BC to the 9th century AD: domination by the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Arabs and the Sicilians.870: the island occupied by the Arabs was converted to Islam.1090: Malta came under the rule of the King of Sicily.1530: Charles Quint granted the island to the Order of Saint John, chased out of Rhodes.1565: the Turks attacked. Thousands of Maltese are taken away as slaves.1798: after the stopover of Bonaparte, on his way to Egypt, the island came under French rule.1802: Malta became British.1939-45: the island of Malta became a naval base and was often bombarded.1961: it gained its autonomy.1964: Malta became independent under the Commonwealth.1974: the Republic was established.1987: the nationalist party came to power.1989: Censu Tabone became President of the Republic.1996: the labour party regained power following legislative elections.1998: the pro-European nationalists took advantage of early legislative elections to return to power.1999: Guido De Marco is elected president.March 2003: the Maltese voted to join the European Union.2004: Eddie Fenech Adami became president.May 1st 2004, Malta joined the EU.

Malta : Stay up to date on the country's holidays and events

Events

January 1st: New Year's Day. >February 10th: Anniversary of Saint Paul's shipwreck off the coast of the island.February: Carnival of Malta.February 29th: Marathon and half-marathon.March: Festival of Mediterranean food.March 19th: Saint Joseph Day.March 31st: Liberty Day to mark the departure of the English in 1979.March-April: Holy week in Malta with religious processions.May 1st: Labour Day.May: Festival of fireworks display at the Grand Port of Valletta.June 7th: National Day.June 29th: Imnarja Day or Harvest Day to celebrate Saints Peter and Paul. Traditional dances and songs.July: International Jazz Festival.August 15th: Assumption.September 8th: Day of the lifting of the Siege launched by the Turks in 1565 and celebration of the nativity of the Virgin. Fireworks display and regatta at Valletta.September 21st: National celebration of independence.October: Festival of historic cities.End of October: Rolex Middle Sea Race.End of October-early November: Mediterranean Festival of Gozo with celebrations of the culture, history and music of the island.December 8th: Day of the Immaculate Conception.December 13th: Day of the Republic of 1974.December 25th: Christmas.